April
26th--Phi Delta Theta Viking Party--University of Arkansas at
Fayetteville--Oreo Blue would like to thank the fine young men of
Phi Delta Theta for having us perform at their annual Viking
Party. A good time was had by all. While being fond of creative
outfits, Oreo Blue enjoys making private parties even more memorable for
its attendees by putting the "infectious groove" it its
theme. Thanks also to the folks in attendance for the assistance
in load-in and load-out. I actually would never have imagined the
Rock-N-Roll Suburban scaling the hill like it did. Kudos to
Captain Crowne for alleviating what could have been the crappiest
load-in of all time.

Special
Insert--On-Line--Brown Eyed Girl has been one of our
most requested songs for a long time now.For some reason or another we never get a chance to actually
learn the lyrics to the song even though the band knows the music quite
well.Iím guessing do to
the frustration of hearing me continue to say we need to, or we are
going to learn them a certain enthusiastic fan decidedshe would help expedite the process one night.I appreciate very much anyoneís help with things, even our
music.Yet still,on this December night at Georgeís Majestic Lounge, Iím
wondering could these lyrics written on a 4Ēx8Ē yellow piece of
paper, front and back, help me?The thought was sincere, I tried my best, but I still messed
it up.Thank goodness we
were all enjoying a few libations and there to have a good time, because
no one got to upset with me.I
have kept these lyrics with me every since then because they not only
represent memories of a fun evening, but also of a very special fan who
became a great friend.If you were wondering, yes, she is a brown-eyed girl.

--Brian
Crowne4-24-01

April
20-21st--George's Majestic Lounge--Fayetteville, AR--There's no
place like home, There's no place like home. Well, oftentimes that
can be deceiving, but not this weekend. The City of Fayetteville
was celebrating its Springfest activities and we were fortunate to see
not only a lot of familiar faces, but many new ones as well.
Standing room only at George's doesn't get much better. With the
help of the incitement of a few rabid new fans (you know who you are),
the crowd seemed to be having a great time and the band rose to the
occasion and proceeded to open up a can-o-whopass. Brian's sax
solos on Heaven's Door, Messin' With The Kid, and All Along The
Watchtower were absolutely monumental. I believe that Gary
bloodied a few noses with his solos on Hey Joe and Little Wing. A
highly underrated bass solo by Rod on Flip Flop Fly, nearly knocked me
off my drum throne with some "way-back" triplets aptly
placed. All and all a really memorable show. Thanks to Ben
Harrison and the crew for righting the ship there at George's (we really
like your new sound gear...especially that drum monitor. I think
that I have a damaged kidney on my left side and a ruptured spleen from
it!).

April
20th--Online--from one of our favorite venues, Parsons, Kansas, our
good friends John and Sandy Blair send us a nice note with the attached
photo below of John's fancy artwork. It is folks like them that
keep the fires burning in our music to endure the long road trips and
the super-fun hauling of band equipment (see entry January 6th).
Thanks John and Sandy and we will see you on June 1st.

Insert--April
14th--Rooster's Blues Club--Ft. Smith, AR--For
any of you who have followed the band in Ft. Smith for the last eight
years you know this has been one of our favorites.Almost a home away from home and I have to say that Chuck and his
wife Robin are definitely on the right track to restoring the club to
itsí former glory.After
working out a few sound gremlins we had a tremendous night with lots of
familiar faces in the crowd that we love to see.I donít know when we are returning yet, but keep an eye out and
in the meantime please support this venue which has done so much to
bring the highest quality live music to Ft. Smith.Chuck tells me they are returning to their Blues Roots on the
weekends and weíll be looking forward to another rocking night soon.

--Brian
Crowne

Insert--April
13th--Fakouri's
Bar--Pine Bluff, AR--So
weíre heading for Pine Bluff to play the infamous Fakouriís Bar and
we didnít think the Friday the 13th jinx would get us,
whatever.Actually for
those of you who have traveled Interstate 40 between Ft. Smith and
Little Rock for the past 20 years you know that everyday is jinxed with
our amazing highway department perpetually tearing up the highway.After a short hour-and-a-half pit stop outside of Conway for the
boys in the orange vests we were rocking and rolling all the way to PB.Nothing like showing up 30 minutes before show time with people
sitting in the audience getting witness the behind the scenes look at
the glamorous world of show business.All this aside we were very excited to return to Fakouriís and
appreciate Jay having us back down.We would also like to thank Mike and all the others who made the
trek from Hot Springs to join us that evening.You guys made it fun as usual.

--Brian
Crowne

Special
Insert--April 12th--Fayetteville--Oreo Blue would like to
welcome their good friend Amanda Adams back from a semester of college
in England. We will be looking forward to her sitting in and
singing a few tunes with us in the near future. Also, look for
former
singer and Soul Queen, Chris Payton to be joining us at George's April
20 &21 in Fayetteville AR. Speaking of George's we would like
to say how excited we are that our old friend and long time owner of
George's, Ben Harrison took back over operations of the bar last month.
We are once again looking forward to performing in one of our
favorite venues in the whole country!

Also, I would like to thank
my good friend Day for joining us in Joplin at The Bypass last Saturday
April 9th. It has been a favorite haunt of ours for a long time
and it was cool to share a show with her somewhere other than
Fayetteville. She is a true fan of music and her enjoying and
following the group is much appreciated.

--Brian
Crowne--April 12

April
9th--On-line--Cyberspace--Once again, as a result of very
enthusiastic reviews from garageband.com members, Look At Me, from Oreo
Blue's first release, Earned the Right, will be the Featured
Track of the Day on April 14th, 2001 (PST). The song will be
feature on the Blues front page for 24 hours. That page can be
found here: http://www.garageband.com/genre/blues

April
14, 2001

Look
At Me

April
7th--The ByPass--Joplin, MO--Well, I must admit that bodies were
aching after the Friday show. That didn't stop Gary from
exercising every gremlin from his equipment by the time the show was
over. If there were demons in his gear, they were gone by the time
he was finished stomping, bouncing, rolling, kicking, and slinging his
"axe" at them. And if he didn't get those demons by
nights' end, they are most certainly now hard-of-hearing. We were
joined again by our great friend and, by far, the best female (not
"chick") vocalist on either side of the Mississippi, Chris
Payton. Those of you who missed sharing in our great fortune to
have Chris join us on stage should be ashamed of yourselves first.
Then, you can just start kicking your own behind until she graces us
again with her unparalleled talent in the not-soon-enough future.
Thanks, Chris and Tommy for coming out to the show.

April
6--The Kitchen Pass--Parsons, KS--It was a long lay-off for the band
this winter and it was not a moment too soon to grease the skids and put
the band back into full afterburner. The last few shows have
been in the "acoustic format" where, although the sincerity of
delivery never is in question, the physical and emotional exertion of a
full-on electric show cannot be matched. The rush of adrenaline
can propel good music into a great sensory experience. In the
past, the wonderful folks in Parsons have borne the brunt of Oreo Blue's
pent-up frustrations of a few weeks off from performance.
Ultimately, Oreo Blue performs beyond their means in times such as this
taking advantage of spontaneity, creative sparks, and the aforementioned
adrenaline. Thanks once again to the folks in Parsons for
supporting Oreo Blue. We don't usually stay in town long so we
don't have a pulse on what else there is to do in Parsons, but we
certainly appreciate you packing the house each time we come around.
Look for us to be in your town on June 1st at the Kitchen Pass and again
on August 9th for the Street Dance.

April
6th--On-line--Cyberspace--Attached is a photo of the Oreo Blue song,
Earned
the Right as featured on Garageband.com website as Track of
the Day. Click on it for the full version.

March
30th--Maxine's Tap Room--Fayetteville, AR--Our good friend, Travis
Kidd, was kind enough to front three-fourths of Oreo Blue at Maxine's
this weekend in Gary's absence. Gary has been racking up the
knowledge at Westark College in Ft. Smith and is performing with the Big
Band this weekend. Travis Kidd is a top-notch professional
performer with skills in many genres of music including country, rock,
blues, and swing. A talented guitarist and an inimitable vocalist,
Travis' original songs are of such quality that if any of the folks at
Billboard were given a chance to listen, they could not refuse
inclusion. You can find out much more about Travis at his
web-site, www.travis.kidd.net.
Thanks, Travis.

Oh,
by the way, I found this link on Travis' web-site of Maxine's legendary
prelude to last call..."Drink
up..."

As
a result of some very enthusiastic reviews from garageband.com members,
Prescription for the Blues and Earned the Right will each be Track of
the Day at garageband.com. For 24 hours on April 2 and April 6,
2001(PST) Prescription for the Blues and Earned the Right will be
featured on garageband.com's Blues front page. The address for this page
will be: http://www.garageband.com/genre/blues

March 2nd--Maxine's Tap Room--Fayetteville,
Arkansas--In what may be the smallest club west of the Mississippi,
Oreo Blue dished out an acoustic set that was large enough to fill the
largest concert hall in the nation. The light crowd couldn't
escape the musical attacks coming from each player. The wall
opposite the stage being a mere 20 feet away forced the rush of acoustic
electricity down the corridor club and back again. Award-winning
bassist, Rod Williamson milked every watt from his undersized cabinet to
drive that small club like a nuclear submarine while Gary and Brian
sparked fires in the galley unnerving the captivated
inhabitants.

Congratulations to all of the entertainers and support
folks who were winners at NAMA. Northwest Arkansas is truly a
quality musical Mecca and the people are the reason why.

March 1st--Northwest Arkansas Music
Awards--Fayetteville, AR--Brought to you by the Fayetteville Free
Weekly, the NAMA 2001 is a celebration of the entertainment community in
the Fayetteville area rewarding those musicians, sound engineers, and
the like for their outstanding musicianship and contributions.
Oreo Blue is proud to announce that Gary, Rod, and Brian were nominated
as best performers in their instrument category! Oreo Blue also
earned nominations for Best Blues Band and Album of the Year! Way
to go team! I'll hit the woodshed and maybe join you guys next
year. In the mean time, we look forward to celebrating at Maxines
for a rockin' acoustic show tomorrow night!